Woman dies, 9 injured in Bandra Worli Sea Link accident

A 45-year-old woman was killed while nine others were injured when a Toyota Corolla in which they were travelling in for a joyride dashed into the divider on Bandra-Worli sea link on Monday afternoon.

According to the police, the incident occurred at the Worli end of the sea link when the car first rammed into the divider and then hit the side railing at very high speed.

The police said the impact was such that the car’s front was severely damaged. However, there was no structural damage to the sea link, said MSRDC officials, the agency which manages the bridge.

The officials said that the incident led to a traffic jam for about 20 minutes. The officials have identified the 10 occupants of the car as Chandrakala Mhetre, 45, who died in the accident. Two of her children — Ajay, 12, and Kavita, 10 — are said to be seriously injured. Bhanu Pujari, 40, Kamla, 9, Kavita Mhetre, 12, Pooja Chikalkar, 10, Ganesh Chikalkar, 9, Ankit Patil, 12 and Dilip Mhetre, 11, are the others who are injured. Ranjet Wai, 38, the driver of the car is in the ICU.

Primary investigations revealed that all the occupants are residents of BDD chawl, Worli. According to the locals, Wai, who recently joined as driver at a Toyota showroom, came to the chawl for lunch in the afternoon in his new car and reportedly offered the kids a joyride on the sea link.

“I never thought this ride would take the life of my sister,” said Parvati Pale, Mhetre’s sister.